The National Debt

"The National Debt" is one of three novellas written by Leslie Charteris and included in the sixth Saint book Alias the Saint published in 1931. It had previously been published in the magazine Thriller (the version in Alias the Saint is a revised/rewritten draft).

Plot
Simon Templar assumes the identity of Professor Ramses Smith in order to investigate a group of modern-day pirates based in South Wales who kidnapped a beautiful young chemist after doping her with a mind-altering drug that turned her (briefly) into a mindless killer.

Television adaptation
"The National Debt" was adapted as an episode (retitled "The Crime of the Century") of The Saint starring Roger Moore for its third season and first aired on March 4, 1965.